A Clash In The System
by DarkHououmon
Summary: Rated T to be safe. Genres may change as I write more. I'll try to update this story as I can. Plot: A wanted longneck is chased out of his home and ends up at the Great Valley. It is said his presence causes unfortunate things to happen. Is that true? And if it is, what is the longneck's mission? Or is something else at play?


Chapter 1:

The Great Valley-

The family of longnecks gathered near the jumping water, a common place for telling stories, especially those of epic proportions. The longnecks consisted of two young longnecks and three larger ones. All but one of the young longnecks had a long flat muzzle and a flat head. The remaining longneck had a dome shape on its head. Two of the longnecks were old, the remaining one young and strong.

This family was none other than Littlefoot, Shorty, Bron, and Littlefoot's grandparents. Bron and Shorty had come back for another visit. Littlefoot was always grateful when they came. He wished they could stay forever, but Bron had other duties to attend to. Bron said the main reason why he couldn't convince the herd to move to the Great Valley was that he feared they would devastate the food supply. Littlefoot found it difficult to believe and thought there was something more to it than that. But he did not question his father further.

He sat next to Shorty. He glanced over at him sideways. The tallneck longneck child had his thinking face on. He was likely going over the last story they were told by Grandpa Longneck. He had finished another of his great tales taking place in the beginning of time. The story was similar to Mr. Thicknose's, about rising out of the muck. Although Grandpa Longneck had added additional detail, different species he's never heard of before. Littlefoot knew that his grandpa was just making it up to make the story more interesting. But he still enjoyed it.

"But how is that possible?" Shorty said, narrowing his eyes further. "I mean, come on! There couldn't have been any time before now!"

"The world is far older than you are, child." Grandpa Longneck said with a smile. "How are you so certain that something else didn't exist before your kind did? It's even older than me. Even I cannot say with absolute certainty if anything existed before."

Shorty opened his mouth to reply. He hesitated, his voice straining to speak. "I just know it!"

No one said anything to that other than a laughter. Shorty mumbled and said nothing after that. Littlefoot grinned over at him. Shorty frowned at him and Littlefoot's smile fell slightly. He cleared his throat and looked back up at his grandparents.

"Grandma, what do you believe?" Littlefoot asked.

All eyes turned on the aging female flathead longneck. She stared back at them. She took her time to come up with an answer. Then she said in a calm voice, "I don't claim to know what I don't. I don't worry about what I don't know that I don't need to know. Maybe one day we will find the answer. But for now, I can't say I believe anything. What matters to me is that we are alive now and I should focus on that."

Her mate smiled at her and gave her a nuzzle. "That's what I always loved about you. You never were distracted by the little things. You focused on what mattered."

The two shared a tender moment. After they were done, the group fell silent for a few moments. They watched as the jumping water soared into the air again. The flash of warmth felt good on their scaly bodies. It almost helped them think better, which was why places like these were a prime location for story telling.

Littlefoot himself had often wondered what life was like before his kind, if such a time existed. He had talked to Shorty about this before. The tallneck longneck wasn't interested in thinking about that. He reminded him of Cera in some ways. She also wouldn't really care, and would even declare that nothing existed before threehorns. She was stubborn like that. If she and Shorty were the same kind, he could see them growing a little closer.

But what had happened really? And would he ever find out? Littlefoot recalled the words of the rainbowfaces. He tilted his head up towards the sky. That whole exchange, the disappearing into the sky, it had been just a sleepstory and while that had disappointed him, the words still stayed with him. What if there really was more to this world than he could ever hope to imagine? The possibilities nagged at his mind.

"Dad...what do you think?" Littlefoot broke the silence.

Bron was surprised, as if he hadn't expected this. He lifted up his foot. "Me? No one's ever asked me something like that before." He put his foot down and looked at the others. They looked back at him and kept silent. Bron looked a little nervous being on the spot like this. "Well, I didn't have an opinion for a long time. But that changed when I met a strange fellow, a hookthumb covered in black and white..."

Shorty got up and spoke. "Excuse me, but what in the world is a hookthumb?"

Bron replied, "Ah! Glad you asked, Shorty. They're not very common around here, or so he said. Hookthumbs are like us longnecks, but they are much smaller, stand on two legs, and they defend themselves with a large, hooked claw on their hands."

Shorty's eyes widened a little. "Are they sharpteeth?"

"No." Bron chuckled and shook his head. "They're flatteeth like you and me. They just look different. They're almost like a more..." Bron struggled to find the word. "...primitive...version of us."

"Oh..." Shorty said. He sat back down.

Littlefoot didn't like the way his dad said primitive. While Bron was not as bad as Mr. Threehorn could be, at times he felt his father didn't think as highly of other species as he did longnecks. He never went out of his way to intentionally hurt someone of a different kind. But there were times when he was a little insensitive in his wordings.

He decided not to let it get to him. He wanted to hear more of the story. "So what did he say?"

Bron looked over at Littlefoot. "He told me a fantastic tale that I found hard to believe at first. But the more I thought about it, the more I wonder if he was right. It makes the most sense out of anything I've ever heard..."

"What is it?" Littlefoot and Shorty asked in unison.

"The stranger claims that the bright circle is what made us. He said that the bright circle existed for eons, governing the great black skies that we see during the night, and created this world for unknown purposes. According to him, there had been many a people living in this world to serve him in an almost similar way you see the Great Valley residents celebrate bright circle celebration. But time after time, the people had forgotten their purpose, turned on each other, and the bright circle took them away."

Littlefoot and Shorty leaned in, feeling their hearts fill with awe and excitement. The old longnecks simply looked at each other and shook their heads.

Bron continued, "We dinosaurs are the latest in the bright circle's creation. We have pleased him for so long. That is why our kind existed for eons, too many cold times for me to count. But there were too many different kinds of people, and order had yet to be obtained. The bright circle created longnecks to watch over the other species. That is why we are so big and so tall. We were made that way so everyone else would literally 'look up to us.'."

"Wow...so we get to boss everyone around?" Shorty said with a gleam in his eye.

The adult longneck smirked. "No, my son. We don't."

Shorty looked disappointed. "Aww..but why not? You said..."

"I know what I said." He cut him off. "But you didn't let me finish. The bright circle wants us longnecks to keep things going smoothly here. Though that does not mean we should abuse our power, so says the hookthumb. We were entrusted to keep balance in the world." Bron raised his neck in a manner almost proud. "We should not allow this knowledge to change the way we've always been, a gentle, rational species. And this knowledge may not even be fact. If you wish to believe it, you may, but you should not use it as an excuse to boss the others around, even if they might need more help than a longneck."

Littlefoot did not react the same way Shorty did. He had never thought of his species any better than the others. He just wasn't raised that way. His mother never taught him anything like that, so unlike Cera and her father. Being created felt strange to him. A nagging feeling in his heart told him this wasn't true. If they were created, then how do the children come to be? He knew full well where babies came from. He was not ignorant on that subject.

He knew Shorty was going to try to use it for all it was worth. He and Cera often debated on which kind was better, longnecks or threehorns. Usually Cera would finish the argument because Shorty, for all his confrontational ways, had a hard time thinking of comebacks. But with this new story from his dad, he could see the fights lasting even longer. He was not going to look forward to this.

Grandpa Longneck looked up towards the dark skies. The night circle had already risen up overhead. He looked at the other longnecks and said, "Well I think it's time we all get some sleep."

Grandma Longneck nodded. "I agree. It's getting late and you kids need your rest."

"But I'm not tired." Shorty said. He felt himself being pushed forward gently by Bron's tail.

"Come on now Shorty." Bron said. "Remember the reason we came back."

Shorty said, "I know. It's my turn to take the big longneck test. You said I was ready now." He let out a soft yawn. "I just don't see why I have to go bed early for that..." He ignored the fact that his eyes were getting droopy and his mind was getting groggy.

Bron said nothing as he nudged his adopted son to go along with him. Littlefoot remained with his grandparents and watched as Bron and Shorty left. As he watched him, he kept thinking about Bron's words, or more specifically, the words of the hookthumb. Did they really believe that? Did it make that much sense that they were made by the bright circle and that they were some kind of 'chosen people'?

It went against what he believed, or rather the lack of a belief. Littlefoot was a little more like his grandma in that he was going to try not to allow not knowing get the better of him. He was still curious and would like to know the truth. But he knew that would be hard. After all, how could anyone prove what was truth and what was false? He decided he would take the hookthumb's words with caution.

Littlefoot let out a soft yawn. He smacked his lips a few times. He looked up at his grandparents.

His grandma lowered his head. "Are you ready for sleep, Littlefoot?" Her grandson nodded his head once before it drooped down a little. She nuzzled him briefly.

"Well now, let's go home." Grandpa Longneck said as he led his mate and grandchild back to their sleeping place.

Unknown Location-

The Mysterious Beyond was too general and vague of a term. It was one mostly used by residents of the Great Valley to describe anything that was unknown to them. To those living in the Mysterious Beyond, the term had no place. The dinosaurs who knew the area well outside had different names for different places. To them, the Mysterious Beyond was not simply a single location, but a connection of many.

It wasn't as lifeless as the Great Valley dinosaurs assumed it was. In some ways, it was more lively than the Great Valley and more diverse. While the variety of plant times may have been a little less, they were often more exotic and strange looking. If the Great Valley dinosaurs knew where to look, they would easily find a world that's just as much alive as their home was. They would see that there was little difference between their home and the world outside.

Among these locations was a partial valley. The land was in a narrow shape at one end and it slightly widened at the other. A tiny opening formed at the side, allowing in large dinosaurs. The mountains were smooth and almost even with a few spiked ones. A single river ran through the partial valley, the only water source in that whole area. The ground was mostly flat, covered in a variety of trees and other vegetation, more than half not found in the Great Valley.

This partial valley was only half the size of the Great Valley, but it still boasted a wide variety of life. There were no longnecks, spiketails, or clubtails, but in their place, there was a large variety of frilled kinds, some with even more horns than a threehorn. A large amount of flyer types soared the skies, various dinosaurs similar to fastrunners roamed the land. The dominating species were swimmers. There were easily more types here than there were in the Great Valley.

Yet another difference from the Great Valley was that this valley was not free of sharpteeth. To a Great Valley resident, a sharptooth in the valley would spell panic and fright. But here, when a fastbiter showed up, the reaction was quite different. Here, sharpteeth were such a common occurrence that the dinosaurs were were no longer shocked when they showed up. It was almost like a game of waiting to see when the sharpteeth would show up again.

A female longcrest swimmer, barely reaching adulthood, walked through the tall grass, heading towards the river. Across the river, she could clearly see a pack of fastbiters coming in for a drink. The longneck swimmer ignored them. She knew that the fastbiters didn't hunt at this time, so she was safe. When she reached the riverbed, she knelt down and began to drink. She ignored the curious coos coming from the sharpteeth.

As she finished drinking, the longcrest swimmer looked at her reflection. She looked very much like Ducky's mother, but her beak was slightly smaller and her crest was longer and more elaborate. Her body was a meadow green in color with a few spots of dark green on her back. Her underside and part of her mouth were colored a pale green. Her eyes were a pale red.

"I wonder how my 'nephew' is doing." She said that term very loosely. She knew they weren't related. But she still felt connected to him. She had helped to raise the child for a time once, even if she couldn't remember it. She looked over at the fastbiters, who had already left the river.

She looked over her broad shoulder and quickly saw the reason that they left. Coming up towards her was a frontinghorn. It looked like a threehorn, only smaller in size and sported a horn that curved forward instead of backwards. The frontinghorn was colored a light yellow with a white underside. Its light green eyes stared at her almost intensely.

"I see you finally came back." She said in a sarcastic tone of voice. She shifted her body so that it was facing the newcomer. "So what have you come to tell me? I do hope it's good news."

"Oh but it is, Ara. We have apprehended the suspect." The frontinghorn replied with a wide grin. "He is being questioned right now. If he's found guilty, we'll take care of it."

Ara stared at him. She knew what the frontinghorn was talking about. She knew of the dinosaur in question. He was considered a troublemaker. Some strange happenings have been going on and fingers pointed at him. Part of her hoped that he is thrown out of the valley. Another part of her wondered if he really was guilty or not.

She let her mind wander a little bit. She had wanted to visit her nephew back at the Great Valley. Or the one she called her nephew anyway. She hadn't seen her since the earthshake that tore up the land so many years ago. She had barely been a hatchling then. She wondered how she faired now. Ara herself almost died trying to find the Great Valley. It was just by chance she found this place, which the residents had named Raindrop Valley due to its shape.

And then there was the matter at hand now. The dinosaur in question was a longneck that had wandered into the valley a short time ago. A few dinosaurs had disappeared or started acting differently, and this longneck was thought to be the cause. Some native dinosaurs considered him a threat and wanted him out, while a few others thought it was just an overreaction.

Ara herself couldn't feel that she should worry too much about him. He didn't seem like a bad guy. She thought about going over and trying to get him out. She stopped herself. She wasn't the leader of Raindrop Valley, so she had no say as to what happened to him.

"I think it is a shame." She finally said.

The frontinghorn's smile faded from his mouth. "Oh? About the longneck?" Ara nodded. "But why? He's just a troublemaker."

"I don't think he's that bad, Nio. I think most dinosaurs here are just being silly trying to exile him. I doubt those disappearances were the direct result of him. I mean what could he do? He's just a..." She tried to say. But she was interrupted by a loud scream.

The ground beneath her and Nio's feet started to shake and tremble. Something was running their way and fast. Out in the distance, emerging over a small hill, one of the few in the valley, was a large group of dinosaurs running after something. Before the crowd got too close, Nio and Ara moved out of the way. The group of pursuing dinosaurs trampled the ground, kicking up dust as they went. As they moved far enough away, the two got up off the ground, coughed, and looked out towards them.

They could see some of the dinosaur denizens running after what looked to be a longneck. The group was pretty large as well. There must have been at least ten dinosaurs all going after the same guy. They continued to run along the middle of the valley. This only changed when the longneck made a sharp turn to the right and towards the opening in the wall. At this, the crowd seemed to move in faster.

Nio shook his head. "It looks like the longneck is trying to get away. I don't think he'll get very far. They will catch up to him sooner or later." He watched the scene nonchalantly, as if it was no different than what he had seen before.

Ara looked more concerned. She said, "I hope they aren't too hard on him. The people in this valley can be a little..harsh if you know what I mean."

Nio shrugged. "It's not my problem. Besides, it's his fault for fleeing."

By this point, the longneck had made it into the passageway that led to the outside of the valley. Ara narrowed her eyes and ran after the crowd. She ran on all fours, a posture possible, but not often used, by her species. She pounded the ground with her hands and feet. Her tail was raised up high. She gained ground quickly. No one in the crowd had yet noticed her. Within minutes, the distance that separated her from the others was down by half.

She couldn't reach the longneck in time. He had already cleared out of the valley and turned in a new direction. The crowd continued to give chase, exiting the valley to follow him. Ara ran a few feet away from the valley and then stopped. Her heart pounding, her breath shaky, she watched the longneck run. She stood there, silent. She looked up towards the night circle. Then she turned and walked away.

The Great Valley-

The night had passed. The bright circle rose again. Light shined throughout the Great Valley. The residents were up and about, doing their own thing. The sound of laughter could be heard, the laughter coming from so many kids. The morning was a favorite time of play. The bright circle didn't heat the land too much and most of the adults were still sleepy, leaving more areas where they could play by themselves.

In one part of the valley, near the sheltering grass, were Littlefoot and his friends. They were playing in a mud puddle that had formed because of a brief rain that night. Spike especially enjoyed rolling around in the mud and flinging the stuff at the others. Even Cera, though annoyed, was having a good time. The kids were getting covered in the mud as they wrestled with each other.

Chomper dove deeper into the mud. The others looked at him and waited. Then Chomper crawled out, his hands raised in the air. His body jerked as he moved forward, his jaw slacked. "Look at me! I'm a mud monster!"

The others erupted in laughter as Chomper 'chased' them, snapping at them with fake earnest. Spike buried his head in the mud and Chomper pretended not to see him. He then jumped onto Littlefoot's back and set his jaws on his shoulder. Littlefoot's eyes widened and he reared up onto his back legs. Chomper let go and rolled out of the way, giggling. Littlefoot lost his footing and fell onto his back.

Cera took this chance and ran towards the longneck. She jumped on top of him and pinned him down. "I got you now Littlefoot!" She said, faking a growl. "Try to get me off!"

Littlefoot laughed and pushed his paw against her face. "Cera! Stop it!"

After a few minutes, the group of friends laid on the ground to relax. They had expended much energy from that play time. They lay on their backs and looked up at the sky. They watched the sky puffies move across slowly. The bright circle was still rising, so they weren't worried about their eyes burning from looking at it. Eventually, they started guessing what each sky puffy looked like. It wasn't their favorite game, but it was still fun.

"That one looks like a treestar." Littlefoot said, raising his foot.

"Well that one looks like a threehorn." Cera said proudly.

Petrie chuckled. "Me thinks that look more like Cera getting yelled at by her dad." Cera snorted at him.

Ducky jumped up and down. "Spike says that one looks like treesweets, yep yep yep!"

"Yuck..." Chomper said, his tongue hanging out. The others laughed at him. In a bit, he found himself joining in.

Littlefoot said, "That sky puffy looks a little like my father..." Then he fell silent. The others looked confused by his change in emotion. Littlefoot's smile had faded as he stared up at the sky puffy.

"Littlefoot?" Cera said, crawling up onto her feet.

Ducky jumped next to her. "Are you all right? Is something the matter?"

Littlefoot blinked and shook his head. "N-Nothing's wrong. It's just that..." Littlefoot looked up at the sky puffy again. The wind had changed its shape by now and he no longer could see his dad in it. He sighed and looked back at his friends. "Oh I was just thinking about something my dad told me last night. Something that..I don't know what to make of."

"What is it?" Chomper asked.

Littlefoot hesitated to answer. He wished he hadn't brought it up. But all eyes were on him, well except Ruby's. She was absent. Chomper said her parents told her to rejoin them but he wasn't sure why. He said that she would be back later, but couldn't say for certain when. While that meant one less pair of eyes, he still felt the pressure from having his remaining friends look at him. He bit his lip. He couldn't keep himself quiet.

"He said that some dinosaur called a hookthumb told him that the bright circle created everything we see. I know that sounds like the bright circle celebration, but there's more. The stranger also said that he created longnecks to keep the peace. So in a way, according to this hookthumb, longnecks are the ones who basically control everything."

The others looked at him in shock. They looked at each other, wondering what to make of this. Cera was the first one to reply.

"I don't believe a word of it. That hookthumb, whatever that is, obviously had no idea what they were talking about!" Cera raised her head in a snooty fashion. "Everyone knows that we threehorns were the first!"

Littlefoot rolled his eyes. "Whatever Cera. I don't know if I should believe it myself. It sounds too incredible to be true."

Petrie flapped over towards him. "What if it true? What would you do?"

"I..I really don't know." Littlefoot shook his head from side to side.

Cera walked up towards him. "Well you can believe whatever you want, Littlefoot. I for one will choose not to believe it. Sounds like he just made the whole thing up!" Littlefoot glared at her, but didn't say anything as Chomper spoke up.

"Come on, you guys." Chomper said, gesturing with his hands. "Let's not fight about this. Let's try to have fun again."

"Yep yep yep, that'll make you two feel better!" Ducky said happily, Spike nodded in agreement.

Littlefoot admired that about those two. They don't easily let things bother them or distract them from having fun. He wished he could be the same way. But he just couldn't let this go. He looked over at Cera. It wasn't her he was really mad at. He didn't think he was mad at anyone. He just wanted to let this leave his mind. So why wasn't it?

He realized that maybe the reason he wasn't able to let go of it as well as he hoped was because it was his own father who said those words. He wasn't sure if his dad really met a hookthumb and he was simply repeating the words, or if his dad was really the one who came up with it. He found it hard to believe his dad could say such a thing, though. Littlefoot felt he was just jumping to conclusions too easily. He would have to speak to his dad more after he was finished testing Shorty.

Littlefoot didn't want his friends to worry about him. He put on the best smile he could and said, "Yeah, let's continue playing. We still have some time left before we have to go eat."

"What should we play next?" Petrie asked.

"How about...SHARPTOOTH ATTACK!" Cera said, making the best roar she could. The others gasped in shock, but soon they were all laughing.

Right outside the valley's walls, a small figure was coming forward. Or rather, running. On all four legs, they moved as fast as they could. Their throat felt dry and they wheezed as they tried to take in a breath. Their body was covered in bruises and cuts, though no blood was visible. Their movements started to slow down, but only briefly. They pushed themself to move faster. Their tongue hung out; they needed a drink of water so badly.

They stopped and looked up at the mountain that cast a shadow on their body, making it harder to see them. They looked around, trying to find someway to climb up. They walked up to a slope that looked promising and started to climb up. They only got a few steps before they slipped back down the valley's walls. They shook their head as they hit the ground and looked back up. They got up and tried to climb back up, but with not much more luck than before. They narrowed their eyes slightly, trying to figure out how they were going to get inside.

Just then a roar sounded out. The dinosaur froze, a shudder going through their body. They turned around and saw another figure coming towards them. The figure moved too quickly for them to recognize what the figure was, but managed to dodge out of the way. They felt a prick on their neck. A little trinkle of blood dripped down. They winced and let out a yelp, revealing the dinosaur was a male.

He looked around, trying to find his attacker. He soon saw the figure behind him. He couldn't make out what type of dinosaur it was specifically, but he had caught a glimpse of sharp claws. It had to be a sharptooth of some kind. The dinosaur growled softly and pawed the ground.

"I know it is insane for someone my age to fight." The dinosaur said. "But I will not let someone else try to take me!"

With that, the mysterious dinosaur charged towards the figure, who just stood there and watched as he got closer. The figure then tensed up, waited for the right moment, and lashed out with a clawed paw. The talons hit the dinosaur in the side, digging up the skin and shed blood on the ground. The mysterious dinosaur screamed as he fell to the ground. His body shook in pain. He didn't want to give up yet. He got back up and charged once more.

This time he managed to land a blow on his attacker, slamming his tail against their side. The figure hissed painfully and stumbled back. He took this opportunity to body slam him into the ground. The supposed sharptooth roared loudly. The dinosaur then bit down on the attacker's tail tightly and threw it against the wall of the valley. A few rocks were loosened and a pile of them fell down onto the attacker, and he thought it was silenced for good.

"My first sharptooth fight and it went better than I hoped." The dinosaur said. A smile spread across his face. "Perhaps things are looking up for me after all."

He turned around and looked back at the mountain side. He started to walk around the circumference of the valley. He hoped there would be a way inside. There should be, but where was it?

Behind him, the rocks shook and rattled. The dinosaur that attacked him had risen out of the rock slide. Now with eyes filled with hate, the figure made a dash towards him. He didn't realize what was coming until it was too late. A strong arm took hold of him, pressing him up against something soft. He struggled frantically, imagining the sharp teeth tearing his skin, the claws ripping him open. Something different happened this time.

The figure grabbed one of the rocks that had slid down and brought it to his skull. It raised it into the air, tensing its arm muscles. It brought the rock down with full force. The young dinosaur's eyes bulged open as the rock made impact against the side of his head. After a few seconds, he slumped to the ground.

His attacker glared down at him. Then it reached down towards him with a clawed hand, a dark chuckle escaping its throat. As the hand grew closer, the longneck's world turned pitch black, his eyes rolling inside his head. The last sensation he had was the feeling of something grabbing onto him.

"I say, what's going on here?" An elderly voice called out.

The figure stopped in its tracks, letting out a hiss of frustration. Its eyes shifted over to the source of the voice. It had to shield its eyes to notice a large pale blue flyer coming down its direction. The figure took a step back, making room for the large flyer to land. The flyer brushed itself off and started ambling towards the figure.

The figure didn't waste any time in leaving. It turned tail and ran away. Its feet pounded the ground and kicked up dust in the air. Some of it got in the flyer's face. It wheeled its head back and wiped at the dust in the air. It coughed a few times as it kept its eyes closed to shield them.

"Well that was no way to treat Swooper!" The flyer said, before turning his towards where the figure had ran. "I don't know who that feller was, but I reckon it was a sharptooth. And where there's a sharptooth, there's a leafeater. I hope these old bones are still up for this!"

Swooper lowered himself forward and placed his hands on the ground. He turned his head to the side. He raised a fist and slammed it down. He held back a yelp of pain. He listened to the minor vibrations in the rock.

The old flyer stood up. "Now this feels different..." He made his way towards the anomaly. His foot caught on a body and he almost fell forward. Flapping his wings frantically, he righted himself. He winced. "I should be more careful."

Swooper lowered his hands again and touched something soft. His blind eyes widened a little as he felt something round, hard, and light. It was the head of a dinosaur, likely a longneck judging by the shape. He showed more surprise when he felt something warm and gooey on the side of the dinosaur's head.

It was blood. It was not much, but there was enough of it to coat a good portion of the dinosaur's face. Swooper wiped off his paw and jumped onto the back of the longneck.

"Wake up sonny! You have to get to the Great Valley! No need to worry, I'll lead you there. I know every rock and cranny of this place."

Littlefoot was not used to greetings like this. Whenever a newcomer came to the valley, it was customary to have a large group of dinosaurs greet them. He had long forgotten what the reason was for. But with the exception of Swooper and Doc, he was used to larger groups being greeted. At minimum, there may be three or five dinosaurs in a group being introduced to the valley. But today, it was quite different.

When his grandpa interrupted his play with his friends, he knew that it was important. He asked his grandpa what was wrong. His grandpa told him that nothing was wrong and just said there was a newcomer to the valley. Likewise, the families of his friends, except Chomper and Ruby of course, came in to take them to the greeting area. Ruby and Chomper had followed close behind.

When he got to the greeting area, it was not at all what he expected. He thought it was going to be a lone dinosaur like Doc. But instead, it was a single child, not much older than he was. This took him by surprise. What shocked him even more was the state the newcomer was in. The longneck's body looked mostly fine save for a few marks here or there. But on his head, there was a red stain. Littlefoot's eyes had widened and he wondered what had happened to the guy.

The child longneck was on the ground unconscious. He didn't make much noise save for a few moans and groans. A few times, his eyes would flutter open, but then they'd shut right away. Standing next to him was Swooper, who recounted his tale of how he found the injured longneck during his daily flight. The elderly flyer had learned quickly how to fly short distances without sight. Littlefoot was glad for this since it saved the life of another kid like himself.

"What I would like to know is..." Mr. Threehorn said, a narrowed glare facing the longneck child. "..what are we going to do with him?"

Grandpa Longneck looked over at Mr. Threehorn, a somewhat surprised expression. "I'm surprised at you. Why are you asking that at a time like this?"

"Well...the kid's got no herd." Mr. Threehorn said. "Where are we gunna put him? He can't just wander around by himself."

"That is true." Grandpa Longneck concurred.

Littlefoot listened to this and began to think to himself. He didn't know of too many longneck herds in the valley. He thought about the other herds, but he doubted any of them would take him in. Not everyone was as open minded as Mrs. Swimmer when it came to adopting children of a different kind.

He thought briefly of letting the child stay with him and his grandparents, but he started having second thoughts. His grandparents were getting up there in age and it was a challenge for them just to look at after him. Could they handle the challenge of two children? He wasn't sure. But he knew he would feel guilty if he expected them to take on more responsibility.

Then a thought crossed his mind. He looked over at Chomper and Ruby. The fastrunner was something of a motherly sort, already acting something like a parent to Chomper. Littlefoot wondered if the injured longneck should go with them. Perhaps that was best. Plus Ruby was good with treating injuries. Maybe she could heal the longneck's head wound.

As he thought about this, the murmurings of the adults went on.

"Well I can't take the kid in. I don't know anything about how to raise a longneck." A crestless swimmer said.

"He would eat all my kids' food!" Exclaimed a spikethumb.

A clubtail chimed in, "Let the kid be on his own! The valley's safe enough!"

Swooper shrugged his wings. "Given my age.." He stretched his crooked, stiff wings. "..I dunno if I'd be up for the job. I wish I could be of more help, though."

As this went on, Littlefoot slinked over to where Ruby and Chomper stood. He had to be careful not to step on anyone's feet, or trip over anyone. He paused to make sure his grandparents weren't looking. He eventually made it to where his two friends were. They stood between a pair of lightly colored domeheads. They were staring intently at the adults as they argued about the longneck child.

Littlefoot reached a leg over and nudged Ruby. The fastrunner looked over at him and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Littlefoot?! What are you doing here?"

Chomper took notice. "Littlefoot? Why aren't you with your grandparents?"

Littlefoot nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Yes I know, but..I just had this idea and I wanted to tell you right away. And before you ask, no it cannot wait. You see, I was thinking about what should happen to that kid over there. I think I have an idea."

"What is it?" Ruby asked him.

Littlefoot replied, "Why don't you two look after him?"

This obviously took the sharptooth and fastrunner by total surprise. They both took a step back from him and looked at him as if his neck had suddenly gone short. Littlefoot bit his lip. He hadn't expected this response from them.

"Are you joking?" Chomper said. "We don't know what to do for him. We aren't parents!"

"Yes. He's right." Ruby said. "What makes you think we are good choices for this?"

Littlefoot hestitated. "Because we've been friends long enough that I know. Ruby, you've taken care of Chomper, took the role of a parent, despite not being a grownup yourself. You took him under your wing and its got you this far. And Chomper..." Littlefoot looked at the young sharptooth. "...when we were younger, when we were trapped on that island with your mom and dad, you were willing to take care of us for as long as we stayed. You got us to a safe place and you brought us food. You made us feel safe."

Ruby and Chomper stared at Littlefoot. They both knew he spoke the truth. They looked at each other. Then they turned back to Littlefoot.

The longneck continued, "The decision is up to you, but please..consider it." With that, Littlefoot turned and went back to his grandparents.

Ruby watched him leave. "I think he makes a good point, a good point he makes." She said in her unusual way of speaking. She looked down at Chomper. "He is right you know. We both have done something to gain some parental experience."

Chomper nodded his head in agreement. "Even though I didn't do as much as you." He smiled at Ruby. "I'm still grateful for what you did for me."

Ruby smiled back. Then she looked at the young longneck on the ground. "Perhaps we should do it. Maybe at least for a little while, you know?"

Chomper nodded his head. "I just hope that we don't mess things up..."

Ruby nodded. She then started walking forward. The adults were still bickering about what to do. But they all stopped as they saw the fastrunner approach the center. This was usually done when a dinosaur wanted to speak. Everyone waited for the pink fastrunner to talk.

"Chomper and I would like to volunteer to shelter the longneck."

Raindrop Valley-

Ara decided to visit her adopted nephew. She hadn't seen him the past few days. She wondered again how he was doing. He had disappeared to do something not long after the young longneck child started to become suspicious in the eyes of the residents. She assumed that her nephew simply had business elsewhere. He was in charge of his own herd after all. But she felt it strange he didn't return after a few days.

The longcrest swimmer made her way towards the home of his herd. They didn't need much space. They were rather small dinosaurs, smaller than what she is normally used to. They stood out by their brilliant colors. It didn't take her long to spot a flash of bright blue and white in the corner of her eye. She whipped her head over.

She saw that, in a small clearing, there was a small group of oneclaws rough housing with each other. She had found the herd she was looking for. She made her way over, careful not to let her more massive size accidentally crush the oneclaws playing on the ground. They were just children, too. She looked around to find the adults.

She spotted her 'nephew' perched on a small rock a few feet away. He was the largest of the oneclaws, but that wasn't saying much. He didn't even reach half her height fully grown. He was covered in fuzzies and he was bright blue with a lighter blue belly. His face and neck was splashed with some red markings. He had a toothed beak, colored yellow. His eyes were an intense gold.

"Var!" Ara called out as she got closer. The oneclaw looked at her and stood up. When she got closer, she said, "What's been going on? I thought you would have checked in with me earlier."

Var just looked at her. "Well you know I have herd duties. These here kids of mine are quite a handful."

Ara looked over the youngsters. They had stopped playing and were staring in wonder at her. They must not have seen a large dinosaur like herself before. She broke her staring at them and turned her attention back at Var. "Is this the payback for how I took you in? By ignoring me?"

"Look, I told you already I had some important business to take care of. You should know how hard it is, how time consuming it is, for one to take care of more than one child." Var said, snarling a little in annoyance.

Ara grumbled, but she knew he was right. She should not have expected him to constantly check in with her when he had so much to do. Why would she need him to do that anyway? She was not his mother. She felt close enough to consider him something of family. But she had already come to terms to the fact that he was not that close to her. So why was she still trying to treat him like he was her own flesh and blood?

She calmed down as she realized there was another reason she had come. She had thought about whether or not there was a connection between the longneck and Var's disappearance. She thought about asking, but then realized she should come up with something else. Var already explained why he went away. So that blew the whole 'the longneck did it' theory out of the water, at least for Var.

"So I heard the longneck kid got chased out." Var said before Ara could think of something to say. He chuckled a little, running one claw over the other. "Serves him right for running off like that every time he's questioned. That just made him look even more guilty." He looked over at Ara. "Still I wonder if he is not really guilty after all. Maybe there's a greater force at play here."

"Huh?" Ara asked, looking confused. "What are you talking about? What about a greater force?"

"It's simple really. What if all actions are predetermined? What if the longneck was merely a pawn in someone else's ploy? Someone we cannot see?" Var said in an almost poetic voice.

"What?" Ara was even more confused than before. Just what was the oneclaw talking about? Sure he had been known to say weird stuff before, but this takes the cake.

"It matters not anyway." Var said, his eyes narrowing. He leaned his head up and his eyes gained a distant look. "It seems like someone else wants to speak to you."

The longcrest swimmer turned and saw Nio running towards her. "Nio? What's wrong?"

The frontinghorn skidded to a stop. He let out a couple heavy pants as the small dust cloud at his feet settled down. There was a troubled look on his face, one that had Ara worried. She waited as Nio opened his beak to explain.

"It's Ein, my nephew!" Nio exclaimed, a hint of apprehension in his voice. "I went to go speak with him regarding the longneck and he was..." His voice got shaky and a few tears dripped down his face.

Ara's eyes widened. Nio didn't need to explain further for her to realize what happened. She took a glance at Var before running off with Nio. "Take me there!"

The mourning frontinghorn led her back to his home, located in a broad, deep crevice in the valley's walls. The area was large enough to house a decent sized frontinghorn herd and there was water nearby. Ara rarely came over here. She knew how territorial some frontinghorns can be. Even now, she approached with caution as she and Nio got closer.

There were some glares from various members, but a look from Nio made them back down. Ara walked through the herd slowly, apprehensive about being near so many. Nio had been the only frontinghorn to earn her trust.

The frontinghorns had gathered in a circle around something. Ara could not see it but she knew what she was about to come across. Nio urged the parents to back away a little so Ara could see. The longcrest swimmer looked down at the body of Ein. She drew in a sharp gasp.

Ein's body was largely in tact. At glance, she would have thought he was sleeping. She looked closer and realized quickly this was not the case. She could see a deep bruise on his side and some deep impressions like someone with blind claws had grabbed him. Underneath him, she could see a bit of blood. Using her hands, she carefully flipped the child over. There was a chorus of gasps at what was revealed.

There was a deep gash in the child's body. Blood had long hardened and stopped flowing. It covered much of his side, starting from his shoulder all the way to his thigh. Some of his ribs and a bit of his muscle was exposed, but most of it was covered in so much red it was hard to see anything.

But it was not just the size of the wound that shocked everyone. It was the shape of the wound that drew most surprise.

"It's in the shape of a longneck footprint..." Ara whispered under her breath.


End file.
